Regional Integration

Progress towards regional integration in Africa remains slow and results are not commensurate with the effort put into the process. Between 1994 and 1996 integration surged across Regional Economic Communities (RECS) and economic sectors, but since then there has been stagnation, and in some cases, backsliding. The lack of significant progress points to the enormous challenge of boosting Africa's integration to levels comparable to those in other regions.

Despite four decades of integration efforts, intra-Africa trade, an important indicator of the intensity of regional integration, accounts for barely 10.5% of Africa's total trade. Moreover, the continent faces formidable challenges in connecting its transport, telecommunications, and power networks. Production of primary commodities remains the dominant activity, spilling over into low trade in agricultural and manufactured goods. In addition, low productivity and high costs of doing business have undermined Africa's internal and external competitiveness. As a result there has been inadequate stimulation of regional demand for goods and services. These problems are caused by various shortcomings-in institutions, policies, and political commitment.

For example, regional projects rarely command priority in national policies, and are crowded-out if seen to compete for national resources. Objectives of regional treaties are often not integrated in national development plans, and protocols take too long to ratify. There is an inadequate political commitment to regional agendas and a failure to sacrifice short-term national goals for long-term regional goals.

Financing regional integration is another critical constraint. This is reflected in the underfunding of RECs' secretariats and programmes. Regional initiatives remain financially strapped and without effective constituencies.

The implementation of regional integration schemes raises three broad issues. First, mechanisms need to be identified to channel information on the potential benefits from integration to all the parties involved, so that a broad consensus for the process can be created. Second, appropriate incentive-compatible schemes are required to lock in the commitment of nation-states to implement agreed treaties. Third, a coordinated action involving regional and international institutions must be undertaken to provide economic integration initiatives with the necessary support and backup.

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